Doctor Who s05e09 spoilerific discussion
Let's discuss this one. Or point me to discussion. Or something. Major spoilers inside!
The episode is clumsy and unpersuasive until the last five minutes. Well, here's some commentary on it anyway, just to get it over with:
The Doctor annoyed the hell out of me during the negotiations with the Silurians, because he was holding the two species to radically different standards. A distressed mother whose husband and child had been taken captive was held to a higher standard than a military leader who was aggressively attempting to provoke war. Not cricket, sir. Not the least. Not even remotely believable, come to that. (Note that you knew the military leader was evil because she had a Prussian army dueling scar over her eye. Stereotypical Germans are stereotypically evil. QED.)
Robed benevolent alien leader is lizard ex machina. Snore.
Meera Syal also appeared in Moffat's Jeckyll as a detective. I liked her character in this ep.
This Doctor has been fairly pissed off with humanity several times already this series. Interesting.
And now, the last five minutes.
The ring is a gun on the mantelpiece, as yet unfired. It is the promise that the matter of Rory will be revisited.
Rory stands in a grave in the first episode of this two-parter, while the kid tells him that the earth is eating dead people. That incident is as yet unexplained, but it foreshadows the end. So is the choice in "Amy's Choice": is the Doctor going to make a choice between two versions of reality later? Hmm, does this explain why Amy doesn't remember the Dalek incident? The Daleks are dead and the memory of them eaten?
The TARDIS itself is threatened by whatever's on the other side of the crack. This is deeply disturbing, because Companions come and go, the Doctor himself changes, but the TARDIS remains. And has remained for 45 years. Talk about your fixed points!
The Doctor made two mistakes in this one: he let the kid run off and get captured, and he delayed at the crack long enough for Rory to get killed.
Does the Doctor remember Rory? I assumed yes, because he's a time traveler with the meta-frame referred to earlier, but I'm not sure we get direct evidence. It's a nastier emotional setup if he does remember and must be with Amy, who does not. If he restores Amy's memories, he also restores her grief. I will think less of the series if they undo Rory's death, but I imagine they might flinch there. Mr Pedia thinks Moffat doesn't have the guts. We'll see how it works out.
Mr Pedia complains that he's always learning new rules about how the crack-in-time eats things. They're not set up in advance.
What did you think of this one?f
The episode is clumsy and unpersuasive until the last five minutes. Well, here's some commentary on it anyway, just to get it over with:
The Doctor annoyed the hell out of me during the negotiations with the Silurians, because he was holding the two species to radically different standards. A distressed mother whose husband and child had been taken captive was held to a higher standard than a military leader who was aggressively attempting to provoke war. Not cricket, sir. Not the least. Not even remotely believable, come to that. (Note that you knew the military leader was evil because she had a Prussian army dueling scar over her eye. Stereotypical Germans are stereotypically evil. QED.)
Robed benevolent alien leader is lizard ex machina. Snore.
Meera Syal also appeared in Moffat's Jeckyll as a detective. I liked her character in this ep.
This Doctor has been fairly pissed off with humanity several times already this series. Interesting.
And now, the last five minutes.
The ring is a gun on the mantelpiece, as yet unfired. It is the promise that the matter of Rory will be revisited.
Rory stands in a grave in the first episode of this two-parter, while the kid tells him that the earth is eating dead people. That incident is as yet unexplained, but it foreshadows the end. So is the choice in "Amy's Choice": is the Doctor going to make a choice between two versions of reality later? Hmm, does this explain why Amy doesn't remember the Dalek incident? The Daleks are dead and the memory of them eaten?
The TARDIS itself is threatened by whatever's on the other side of the crack. This is deeply disturbing, because Companions come and go, the Doctor himself changes, but the TARDIS remains. And has remained for 45 years. Talk about your fixed points!
The Doctor made two mistakes in this one: he let the kid run off and get captured, and he delayed at the crack long enough for Rory to get killed.
Does the Doctor remember Rory? I assumed yes, because he's a time traveler with the meta-frame referred to earlier, but I'm not sure we get direct evidence. It's a nastier emotional setup if he does remember and must be with Amy, who does not. If he restores Amy's memories, he also restores her grief. I will think less of the series if they undo Rory's death, but I imagine they might flinch there. Mr Pedia thinks Moffat doesn't have the guts. We'll see how it works out.
Mr Pedia complains that he's always learning new rules about how the crack-in-time eats things. They're not set up in advance.
What did you think of this one?f